It was on May 25, 2012 that in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Theresa May stated that her goal as Home Secretary “was to create a truly hostile environment for illegal immigration here in Britain.” “. Over the next decade, under Ms. May and her successors – Amber Rudd, Sajid Javid and Priti Patel – these two words, hostile environment, have been associated with a series of aggressive policies that have affected not only undocumented migrants. but also those who are entitled. to live and work in the UK.
The following year, vans labeled “back home” roamed the streets, causing fear in the hearts of many.
Policies that were supposed to deny access to employment, housing, health care, bank accounts and more without proper documentation had devastating consequences for many, including the victims of the Windrush scandal.
The political crisis, made possible by hostile environmental policies, saw thousands of predominantly black people deprived themselves of their rights to live and work in Britain after being mistakenly described as illegal migrants. Many victims are still waiting to be compensated.
On the 10th anniversary of the use of the term for the first time, The Independent has spoken to those affected by what it is like to live in this shadow of fear caused by the hostile British environment.
“My world was shattered by this battle with the Ministry of the Interior”
Junior *, 46, has been in the UK for 22 years, most of the time undocumented. Originally from Ghana, Junior came to Britain to join the family, helping to care for his sister’s children in London, but the government did not extend his permission to remain, so he remained undocumented. 2011 and was put in uncertainty.
“Life has been terrible for a long time. I have been homeless for over a year. There are other people I live with who have a variety of problems, “the father of three told The Independent.
“I’ve been struggling with depression and anxiety, with the onset of migraines sometimes affecting my ability to do anything.
“I’ve watched suicide. Sometimes I’ve felt so low that I don’t care and I don’t see a better alternative.”
Unemployed, Junior has been able to leave only with the occasional help of his friends and family; he previously survived between occasional jobs and cash jobs at construction sites, which came to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Junior has children aged 16, 12 and 10, who are growing up in care in the absence of their UK-born mother. His lack of status makes him unable to raise them himself.
Dozens of protesters accuse the government of “dehumanizing and defaming” asylum seekers in a protest in front of the Interior Ministry in August 2020
(PA)
“I have contact with my children and it’s not the right environment to take the youngsters, although the facility allows a few hours for visitors to come,” Junior said. “I don’t want to expose them to this atmosphere and how I’m struggling, so that means the only time we can spend together is outside.”
Over the years, he has lived with constant fear of immigration raids; at one point, he was sleeping in the back of a Sainsburys supermarket.
Junior has tried to get the right status at various times, but the applications failed. He was finally granted leave to stay in November 2020, but is now classified as a “temporary” migrant with limited leave to stay.
This means that you will need to renew your visa every 2.5 years before you can get an indefinite leave to stay in the UK or apply for citizenship. By this time he will be in his fifties and will have lived in the UK for more than half of his life.
Junior has been able to gain a sense of hope, despite his adversity, through his volunteer role as the church’s guardian and service to others, he says.
She currently sleeps in a support home with nine other people with various complex needs and has started a health and social care diploma, while also volunteering in a charity shop.
“I’ll be honest: faith wasn’t something I was thinking about when I was at my lowest level because while my world was shattered by this battle with the Home Office, sometimes I thought God should be able to solve things directly. away, “he said.
“But I told myself that it’s good to help society because we’re all going through some form of hardship or another; I just hope to be able to stand up, have custody of my children and build a better life, before no later.
“The UK government should eliminate hostile environmental policies and do more to help people in situations like mine. We are also human beings.”
“Couldn’t get help”
Faith * is currently undocumented after arriving in the UK 18 years ago from Ghana. He has survived doing cash jobs, which included cleaning and care work for nearly two decades.
The 54-year-old currently lives with a friend in East London whom she is “grateful for” for her generosity, but says living with uncertainty has affected her mental health.
Before Covid-19 she had worked as a cleaner accepting cash wages, but she lost this job due to the pandemic and has since struggled to find work.
Faith says she has a lot of health issues, but she didn’t go to the GP for 10 years because the doctors told her incorrectly that she was not eligible to register when she arrived.
“My health has suffered a lot over the years and I haven’t been able to get help from doctors even though I really needed it,” Faith said.
“It simply came to our notice then. One day, I was not sure where I would put my head at night or where my next meal would be. It has depressed me: politics and how they have affected my life have made me feel like I’m not a human being, as if I don’t care. “
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) provided him with supermarket vouchers for much of the confinement and also received support from his church.
“To spend the day, I have to believe that God will make a way for me,” Faith said.
“I have been through a lot of things with very little support from anyone, let alone the government.
“Sometimes my friends have helped me, but it’s not possible to depend on others all the time. I came to the UK to work hard and build a better life here; Ghana is extremely tough. “
Faith is currently being represented free of charge by a lawyer who has applied for leave to remain in the Home Office, in the hope that it could end almost two decades of uncertainty.
“I don’t feel like I belong even though I’m British”
Glenda Caesar is one of thousands of Commonwealth citizens who were mislabeled as illegal immigrants because of the Windrush scandal. For 10 years, she was deprived of her right to work and claim benefits in that country.
However, the 61-year-old man said he was betrayed once again by the Department of Labor and Pensions after he suspended his universal credit payments and told him to send selfies through the front door. to prove their eligibility and British citizenship.
Glenda Caesar was asked to take a selfie to prove her right to the benefits
(Glenda Caesar)
Born in Dominica, Glenda, who was legally transferred to Britain when she was three months old in 1961, received a phone call from a DWP staff member last week asking if she was a resident of the United Kingdom and he said to prove it. that.
One week later, the Hackney resident told The Independent that payments have not yet been restored, despite multiple meetings, phone calls and media coverage.
“I’m smoking. I just don’t understand this harassment tactic that’s going on,” he told The Independent.
“If they are racially shaping us to find out if we have the right to be in this country, there is something wrong with this country.
“I don’t feel like I belong to England even though I’m British; I grew up here and have been here my whole life. “
“A hellish state of limbo”
Although the government acknowledged the mistakes of the Windrush scandal, the Interior Ministry continues to implement tactics synonymous with the “hostile environment” plan, from the nationality and borders bill to deportation proposals. migrants to Rwanda.
The Interior Ministry said it was committed to a “fair but firm” and fully law-abiding immigration system through a “subject to ongoing review” approach.
Priti Patel has taken a hard line on illegal immigration
(Getty Images)
But JCWI’s Paola Uccellari told The Independent that the rules set as part of the hostile environment had been “pushing people into a hellish state of legal limbo, fear and debt.”
He said: “Many of our clients have lived here for years and years, even decades, but the Home Office makes these people, often black and brown from the former British colonies, feel like they don’t belong there. “It is time for this government to move beyond a dangerous and racist hostile environment that robs people of their rights. We need immigration rules that allow people to live a dignified, fearless life here.”
Activist Patrick Vernon described the hostile environment as a “public health disaster” in light of the thousands of people who have been affected by these policies and the varying degrees of trauma experienced as a result.
“Dozens of thousands, if not millions, of people affected by these policies have suffered a variety of trauma, from post-traumatic stress disorder and the impact on family life to the fear of losing their livelihood and threat of deportation, “he told The Independent.
“This has also had an impact on people’s minds and bodies.”
“The government may argue that it was necessary to have these policies in place to reduce net migration and to reinforce the fact that Britain is a stronghold,” the activist continued.
“But,…